Gerrit I. Lansing was born in December 1705. He was the first son born to Albany residents Isaac and Jannetie Beekman Lansing. He grew up in his father's house in the first ward. However, he would wait much longer than most Albany men before setting out on his own.

In March 1740, Gerrit was thirty-four years old when he married a much younger Ariaantie Beekman. By 1748, four children had been baptized at the Albany Dutch church.

In 1732, he acquired land on the Plain in the first ward where these Lansings would establish their home. In 1747, the city placed a "great gun" opposite his house.

Gerrit I. Lansing died in October 1748 - shy of his forty-third birthday. His widow did not re-marry and lived for many decades with her sons in their first ward home.